Posted by JulieD/KS on 7/29/10 10:09am
Msg #346781

Low Ball? How about CHEAP?

I focus more on general notary work these days and business is good in that area. I got a call last night at 7:30; a guy needed a notary by 9pm for a document or two.

Right.

As it turns out, it was the seller portion of a purchase loan. It's my nature to take over and be a signing agent, but I just can't do that for regular notary pay. So, I had them pull the docs that needed notarizing and that's all I did. In the past when this situation occurs, I've flipped through the package to ensure it's complete, but I just can't do that anymore. If a title company wants the services of a professional signing agent, they would hire me.

But, they didn't. They emailed the docs to the seller and left him in charge of finding a notary at the last minute. So, I did notary work and that's all.

This goes under the heading of "low ball/cheap". They are bypassing the signing agent all together and having the borrower pay the notary fees. I gave him a receipt and suggested he ask for reimbursement.

I don't know who the title company or lender is since I didn't look at the docs.

Reply by PAW on 7/29/10 10:17am
Msg #346789

That's the way I work with a few agencies here in town. I notarize the sellers side documents on behalf of the seller's RE agent. No review of docs, just notarizing seller's signatures on two documents (as a rule).

Reply by James Dawson on 7/29/10 10:57am
Msg #346795

That's very interesting Julie, thanks for the post. I rarely get the "seller portion" but it surely would be a different take as far as SA duties.

Reply by cadmonkey/CA on 7/29/10 11:00am
Msg #346797

I always charge my full fee even for seller docs. Even though there are less notarizations, there are a lot of tax forms they need to fill out and sometimes a few disclosures.

Reply by Linda_H/FL on 7/29/10 11:08am
Msg #346798

IMO and IME Seller packages don't command

the same fee as a full signing fee - here they're very short and sweet - nowhere near the number of docs and notarizations as in a loan package ...

Like I said - in my experience...have never encountered a complex, involved Seller package.

Reply by SheilaSJCA on 7/29/10 11:22am
Msg #346801

re-imbursement from who Julie? and why??? n/m

Reply by JulieD/KS on 7/29/10 11:40am
Msg #346804

Re: re-imbursement from who Julie? and why???

From title. They were charged a fee for it....and then the title company made them go find the notary themselves...and pay for it themselves.

Will it work? Who knows. Like I said...this title company is CHEAP. Charging them for it on the HUD...then making them pay me themselves. What a ripoff.

Reply by JanetK_CA on 7/29/10 5:32pm
Msg #346873

Re: re-imbursement from who Julie? and why???

If you didn't look at the docs, how do you know they were charged for it on the HUD? I'm just sayin'...

Reply by JulieD/KS on 7/29/10 11:35pm
Msg #346928

Re: re-imbursement from who Julie? and why???

I asked if they were charged for notary fees on the HUD. Is it necessary to pick everything to death?

Reply by jba/fl on 7/30/10 9:26am
Msg #346980

Re: re-imbursement from who Julie? and why???

There are other notaries involved in the process besides us. That is not always the true indicator. This has been discussed recently also. (but I am not going to do the research)

Reply by Tish/CA on 7/29/10 1:06pm
Msg #346813

I couln't agree more, Julie. I would have done the same thing. Seller called you for "notary" services, period. I can't imagine the expectation would be any more than just that. If I were the seller and Title charged me a "notary" fee you can be sure I would demand a reimbursement.

Reply by jnew on 7/29/10 9:04pm
Msg #346907

I am pretty sure the title underwriter would be interested in the closer doing mail-aways on real estate transactions. This practice is frowned upon. The title company has no recourse against a notary who was hired by the seller/buyer and who makes acknowledgment errors.

The seller/buyer normally has little or no acumen as to judge if the acknowledgment was completed properly.
The other risk is the deal could die by time limits expiring because the document can't be corrected in time. There is a definite reduction of risk by using an experienced signing agent.

Reply by CopperheadVA on 7/29/10 9:12pm
Msg #346908

That's exactly why they need to be willing to pay for the

professional services that we offer.

Reply by Claudine Osborne on 7/29/10 9:59pm
Msg #346917

Re: That's exactly why they need to be willing to pay for the

I do quite a bit of Seller docs only and they are around 10-15 pags..takes minutes..I like doing these and get a good fee too.